Hot Seat Rankings: 2 Fast 2 Fired

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I've never been a big The Fast and Furious guy. I've only seen a few of them, and none would make my favorite 50 movies ever list. That said, I feel like I've watched them all, given the significant place they hold in pop/meme culture. In an odd way, they also accurately describe the current hot seat situations around the country.

Coaches all over college football are racing towards something right now. Some have the playoff and a potential national championship as their finish line. Others are hitting the gas to bowl eligibility and the next portal window. But the guys on this list? They're redlining towards buyouts and some quality time at home over the holidays.

ON TO THE RANKINGS, 2STRIPESCPD FAMILY!

It's been a long day, without you my friend, and I'll tell you all about it when I see you again

Mike Gundy - Oklahoma State (Last week: 9)

I don't need to be the 500th person this week to write about Mike Gundy's legacy in Stillwater. He is Oklahoma State Football. The wounds of his firing will eventually be healed, he'll get a statue, plus the adoration from Cowboys' fans that comes with being the greatest coach in program history. His last game being a home loss to Tulsa on a September Friday night will be as forgotten as that awful Fast and Furious video game that dropped three months into the pandemic. Still, the loss can't be forgiven in the short term, nor can Gundy's final two seasons.

Losing to Tulsa for the first time since 1998 (10 tries) and the first time in Stillwater since 1951 is bad enough on its own. This isn't Todd Graham's ten-win Tulsa teams from the late 2000s, either. This is a squad who lost to New Mexico State two weeks ago! The Golden Hurricane are a bad team in their own right, who spent the whole second half trying to gift Oklahoma State a comeback win they didn't deserve. The Cowboys still couldn't muster more than 12 points, stretching their FBS losing streak to 11, dating back to September 2024.

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Gundy didn't just feel the metaphorical heat - he was quite literally sweltering in his Monday presser like a guy driving a 2002 Honda Civic in the middle of summer with no AC:

I've said for seven months that Oklahoma State's brass would do anything they could to not fire him in-season, but losing to Tulsa gave them no choice. Their athletic director admitted as much:

Mike Gundy is no longer fit to drive the autobahn that major college football has become for head coaches the past half-decade. The game passed him by, like it does everyone at some point. It's a harsh reality, but it's the truth. Gundy's race at Oklahoma State is over - and what a hell of a race it was. Until next time, Mike:

1. Billy Napier - Florida (1-3) (Last week: 1)

I've never seen Fast 6, but I'm well aware of its existence because of the runway scene:

This scene holds an infamous place in movie physics history. It lasts so long (almost 13 minutes) that people calculated the runway would have to be between 18 and 28 miles long to exist in reality:

It's a fitting comparison for how long a runway Billy Napier's had at Florida. He's 20-22 in four years, has a flailing offense he won't give up play-calling of, and can't get his team to execute the most basic of tasks:

How does this man still have any runway left after everything he hasn't accomplished? Odds are it's because Florida wants to get past the in-season redshirt/transfer barrier. Maybe Florida AD Scott Stricklin is pulling the "Stare and Drive" on Florida fans to test just how long he can let Billy whip this thing into the ditch before he fires him:

No matter the actual answer, I'm ready to watch a different movie in Gainesville, and so is Steve Spurrier:

2. Luke Fickell - Wisconsin (2-2) (Last week: 4)

If Luke Fickell had a Rotten Tomatoes score, it'd be about 8% right now:

The good news for Fickell is that Wisconsin AD Chris McIntosh still supports him, and he's also got UW legend Barry Alvarez burying the fanbase the same way The Rock buries Vin Diesel every chance he gets:

The bad news is that after this week's bye, the Badgers play Michigan (road), Iowa, Ohio State, Oregon (road), Washington, Indiana (road), Illinois, and Minnesota (road) to finish the season. The AD can publicly support Fickell all he wants, but the absolute best-case scenario here looks like 4-8. Ejecto Seato, Luke:

3. Sam Pittman - Arkansas (2-2) (Last week: 8)

Suspending your disbelief is an important part of the Fast series. You gotta accept going in that you're about see some things that defy reality - Whether it's the 20-mile runway, or cars in outer space:

This is what it feels like watching Arkansas games under Sam Pittman. I have to suspend my disbelief every time they lose, because the way they pull it off consistently defies reality. Two weeks ago, they fumbled inside the Ole Miss 30 while driving for what could've been the game-winning score:

Not the craziest thing I've ever seen, but still a crushing way to lose. Where it gets mind-bending is that they followed it up by blowing a 28-10 lead at Memphis, then fumbling inside the Tigers' ten while presumably setting up for the game-winning field goal:

The same team doing that in back-to-back weeks proves to me that nothing is truly unrealistic - not even Ludacris and Tyrese driving cars in outer space.

4. Joe Moorhead - Akron (1-3) (Last week: 2)